This invention relates to a tone control device for an electronic musical instrument capable of subtly changing a tone color parameter once selected as desired by the performer and, more particularly, to a tone control device of this type in which an operation for adjusting the tone color can be readily made even during performance of music.
This invention relates also to an electronic musical instrument of a type in which tone signals corresponding to tone pitches designated by depression of keys are generated in two tone generation systems and the tone colors of tone signals generated in the respective systems are selected independently from each other system and, more particularly, to an electronic musical instrument of this type capable of controlling generation and cease of a tone in one tone generation system in accordance with a tone color selection operation in the other tone generation system .
In conventional electronic musical instruments, fine adjustment of the tone color is achieved by operating a volume type operator such as a brilliance operator.
In the volume type operator, the amount of fine adjustment of the tone color is determined in correspondence to operated position of the operator and, accordingly, the operator must be manipulated accurately to the operated position corresponding to a desired fine adjustment amount. It is however very difficult to manipulate the volume type operator accurately to the operated position corresponding to the desired fine adjustment amount while playing on the keyboard.
There has been known an electronic musical instrument in which tone signals corresponding to tone pitches designated by depression of keys are generated in plural tone generation systems and the tone colors of the tone signals generated in the respective tone generation systems are selected independently from each other system. In such prior art electronic musical instrument, a tone sounding selection switch for selecting whether a tone signal is to be generated or not in each tone generation system is provided individually in each system and generation or nongeneration of a tone signal in each system is controlled by switching on and off of each tone sounding selection switch.
This necessitates provision of tone sounding selection switches in the number corresponding to the number of the tone generation systems with resulting requirement for a complicated circuit design and high cost of manufacture.
In a case where, during performance of music, a certain system which is in a state capable of generating a tone is to be switched to a state incapable of generating a tone and, at the same time, another system which is in a state incapable of generating a tone is to be switched to a state capable of generating a tone, i.e., a system in which a tone is generated is to be switched from one system to another, the operation for turning off the tone sounding selection switch in the former system and the operation for turning on the tone sounding selection switch in the latter system must be made almost simultaneously and besides the tone color selection operation in the latter system , i.e., the system in which a tone is to be generated anew, must also be made. This requires extremely complicated switching operations in switching the tone generation system with resulting occurrence of difficulty in the performance of music.
Further, in a case where a system which is in a state incapable of generating a tone is to be switched to a state capable of generating a tone in addition to a system which is in a state capable of generating a tone thereby sounding tones in the two systems ., the operation for turning on the tone sounding selection switch in the latter system and the operation for selecting a desired tone color in that system must be made almost simultaneously with resulting requirement for very complicated switching operations.